Relief station for cats



Nov} '26, 1963 G. L. KNUTSON 3,111,932

RELIEF STATION FOR CATS Filed Jan. 25, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 k I //6 lINVENTOR.

' GERALD L. KNUTSO/V ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1963 G. L, KNUTSQN 3,111,932

RELIEF STATION FOR CATS Filed Jan. 25, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1/! I Q -lA TTORNE) United States Patent 3,111,932 RELIEF STATION FOR CATS GeraldL. Knutson, Pingree, N. Dak. (102 4th St. NW., Minot, N. Dali.) FiledIan. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 253,904 6 Claims. (Cl. 1191) This inventionrelates to a device for taking care of the indoor plumbing requirementsof a household cat. It constitutes an improvement over the ordinarysandbox in that it is much more sanitary, requires less maintenance andupkeep and presents a more attractive appearance.

Cats of all varieties and household cats in particular are known topossess an instinct or natural tendency to seek sand or dirt when theywish to eliminate themselves. Experience has shown that virtually allcats initiate their elimination function by digging in the sand or dirtwith their paws. The sandbox that is commonly used recognizes thisinstinctive trait but it does not go far enough in putting it to gooduse.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to overcome thedisadvantages and limitations inherent in the ordinary sandbox and otherprior art means for solving the outstanding problem.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a reliefstation for cats that takes full advantage of the known tendencies of acat and which relies upon such tendencies to provide a novel andsanitary means of collecting and storing the refuse created by a cat.

A further object of this invention is to provide a selfoperated reliefstation for cats characterized by case of manufacture, reliability inoperation, attractiveness in appearance, low cost, and which is easy tomaintain.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in a reliefstation for cats, novel means for disposing of the refuse which isoperated in response to the movement of the cat and novel means forfacilitating the easy removal of the refuse.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become morefully apparent from a consideration of the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings whereinan illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown.

in the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front end elevation view of the invention;

FTGURE 3 is an enlarged view, partially in section, taken on the line3-3 of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of refuse receptaclein an open position;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 with the refuse receptacle in aclosed position;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation view of the invention with parts brokenaway;

FIGURE 7 is a view on a slightly reduced scale taken on the line 7-7 ofFIGURE 9 showing the refuse receptacle in a closed position;

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7 showing the refuse receptacle inan open position; and

FTGURE 9 is a fragmentary view taken on the line 99 of FIGURE 5.

Referring to the drawings, the invention includes a walled enclosure 10having a closed rear end 12 and sides A 3,tlt,93-Z Patented Nov. 26,1963 ice 14, 16. A raised floor 2 0 above front legs 18 and rear legs 19extends from rear end 12 to forward open end 22. Extending between frontlegs 18 adjacent open end 22 and below floor 26 is a lateral support rod26 which is pivotally mounted at each end in walls 14, 16. A for- Wardlyextending treadle plate 27 is carried by rod 26 below floor 2@ to rotatetherewith. Also secured to rod 26 between legs 18 is a depending pivotbracket 28 the lower end of which is fastened to an elongated push rod31 which extends rearward therefrom. Limit pins 32 extending inwardlyfrom sides l4, to prevent treadle plate 27 from oscillating above ahorizontal position.

The inner surface of rear end 12 forms the rear wall of a sand storageand dispensing compartment 34, the forward wall thereof being formed bya front panel 36 and the bottom thereof being formed by lower panels 33,40 above the plane of floor 20. A discharge hole 42 for compartment 34is formed in the lower central portion of front panel 36, from which anopen trough 43 extends forwardly into communication with a refuseopening 44 in floor 20. The trough 43 is slightly inclined downwardlyfrom hole 42 to opening 44. It will be apparent from the foregoing thatthere is provided a sand storage means in the closed rear end of theenclosure 10 which, by virtue of hole 42, permits a cat to paw sand fromcompartment 34 into trough 43 and opening 44.

Secured to the underside of floor 29 below opening 44 is an openableshallow receptacle Sit adapted to receive and discharge therebelow therefuse accumulated by the cat. Receptacle 59 includes asemi-hemispherical base 52 having a central sector shaped opening 54.Pivotally mounted to base 52 are a pair of mating movable sector shapedgates 56, 53 which rotate about pivot pins 60, 62 on opposite sides ofbase 52 to open or close the opening 54. A linkage system for actuatinggates 56, 58 is mounted upon fixed brackets 64, 66 depending from floor2t) on each side of base 52. This system includes a triangularshapedclevis bracket '70 carried by bracket 66 in lateral alignment withdepending pivot bracket 28 of the treadle plate system referred topreviously. The forward lower corner of clevis bracket 79 is pivotallyfastened by means of a clevis pin '72 to the rear end of push rod 39.The rear and upper corners of clevis bracket '70 carry pivot links 74,'76 respectively. Clevis bracket '76 is rotatably mounted to fixedbracket 66 approximately /3 of the distance between its lower forwardcorner and its upper corner, as at 78. Connecting pivot links 74, 76 area pair of pivot arms 8%, 82, each rotatably mounted at their upper endsupon pivot pin 62. Another pair of pivot arms 84, 86 are similarlycarried by pivot pin 69 on the opposite side of base 52. Connectors 9%secure pivot arms 80 and 84 to opposite sides of gate 56, whileconnectors 92 secure pivot arms 82 and 86 to opposite sides of gate 58.These arms act in unison on gates 56, 58 to open or close the same inresponse to the movement imparted thereto by pivot links '74, '76 whichare operated by clevis bracket 70. It can be seen that pivot arms 80 and84 act upon gate 56, while pivot arms 82 and 86 act upon gate 58. Clevisbracket 74) is actuated by push rod 3% in response to the movement oftreadle plate 27 in a downward direction, as indicated by the dottedlines of FIGURE 6. A return spring 94 biases the system into a normallyclosed position with treadle plate 27 horizontal and opening 54 closedby gates 56 and 58.

The reference numeral 96 indicates a depending U-shaped hanger whichprovides Support for an upwardly open refuse container 98. Container 98is held in place by a clip member 100 having a pair of upstanding ears102; at each end adapted to overlie the lower sides of container 98.Clip member 100 is mounted crosswise to the horizontal leg 97 of hanger96 by means of a vertical pin 104 which extends from leg 97 through thecenter of clip member 100 at their common intersection. A compressionspring 106 yieldingly urges clip member 100 upwardly into contact withcontainer 98. The removal of container 98 is accomplished by pullingclip member 109 downwardly out of contact with container 98 as shown inFIGURE 9.

Operation In operation, the compartment 34 is filled with sand andplaced in a convenient position within the house. Cats have an inborninstinct to seek sand when they eliminate themselves so they will enterstructure 10 and start to paw sand from compartment 34 into receptacle50 in accordance with their known habits and inclinations. When the catleaves structure 10 it must pass over treadle plate 27 thereby causingreceptacle 50 to be emptied into refuse container 98, as will beapparent from the foregoing detailed description.

By placing the pivot point 78 of clevis bracket '70 in the positionindicated, a mechanical advantage is obtained which allows for thecomplete opening of receptacle 50 with a minimum of movement of treadleplate 27. The return spring 94 operates to bring the pivot arms down tothe position shown in FIGURE 5 and close receptacle 50. Self cleaning ofgates 56 and 58 is obtained by reason of the fact that they pass overthe outer surface of base 52 during their opening movements.

It is believed that the invention, its mode of construction andassembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood fromthe foregoing without further description, and it should also bemainifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has beenshown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural detailsare nevertheless capable of wide variations within the purview of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a relief station for eats, a walled enclosing structure includinga raised floor and an open end, sand storage means above said floorlocated remote from the open end of said structure, said floor having arefuse opening between said sand storage means and the open end of saidstructure, an open trough connecting said sand storage means with therefuse opening in said floor, shallow downwardly openable receptaclemeans positioned 4 below the refuse opening in said floor, means foryieldably urging said receptacle means into a normally closed position,means actuated by a cat in leaving said structure for opening saidreceptacle, and refuse collecting means positioned below saidreceptacle.

2. The device described in claim 1 wherein said cat actuated means foropening said receptacle includes a treadle plate hingedly carried bysaid enclosing structure adjacent the open end thereof, push rod meansextending rearwardly of said treadle means, and linkage means connectingsaid push rod means to said receptacle means operable to open the samewhen a cat steps upon said treadle plate.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said refuse collecting means isremovably carried by said enclosing structure.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein yieldable means are provided to holdsaid refuse collecting means in place.

5. In a relief station for eats, a walled enclosing structure includinga raised floor and an open end, a sand hopper carried by said structureabove said floor in spaced relation to the open end of said structure,said floor having a refuse opening adjacent said sand hopper, anupwardly open trough connecting said sand hopper with the refuse openingin said floor, a hemispherical receptacle carried by said floor incommunication with the refuse opening therein, said receptacle having acentral opening therein, mating segments pivotally mounted within saidreceptacle to selectively close and expose the opening therein, linkagemeans for imparting opening and closing movements to said segments,spring means for normally urging said segments into a closed position, atreadle plate pivotally carried by said enclosing structure at its openend, rod means connecting said treadle plate with said linkage means,depending bracket means carried by said floor below the opening therein,a refuse collector carried by said bracket means, and means cooperablewith said bracket means for releasably holding said collector withinsaid bracket means.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said bracket means includes a U-shapedsupport, and wherein said releasably holding means includes a clipmember yieldably attached to said U-shaped support at the base thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,390,209 McArthur Sept. 6, 1921 1,745,761 Hiering Feb. 4, 19302,416,825 Dowling Mar. 4, 1947 2,469,784 Quinn May 10, 1949 2,883,963Scott Apr. 28, 1959 3,071,110 Fox Jan. 1, 1963

1. IN A RELIEF STATION FOR CATS, A WALLED ENCLOSING STRUCTURE INCLUDINGA RAISED FLOOR AND AN OPEN END, SAND STORAGE MEANS ABOVE SAID FLOORLOCATED REMOTE FROM THE OPEN END OF SAID STRUCTURE, SAID FLOOR HAVING AREFUSE OPENING BETWEEN SAID SAND STORAGE MEANS AND THE OPEN END OF SAIDSTRUCTURE, AN OPEN TROUGH CONNECTING SAID SAND STORAGE MEANS WITH THEREFUSE OPENING IN SAID FLOOR, SHALLOW DOWNWARDLY OPENABLE RECEPTACLEMEANS POSITIONED BELOW THE REFUSE OPENING IN SAID FLOOR, MEANS FORYIELDABLY URGING SAID RECEPTACLE MEANS INTO A NORMALLY CLOSED POSITION,MEANS ACTUATED BY A CAT IN LEAVING SAID STRUCTURE